Learn to Read Ancient

Sumerian
An Introduction for Complete
Beginners

Joshua Bowen
Megan Lewis

Digital Hammurabi Press

Mechanicsville, MD.
Copyright © 2020 Joshua Bowen and Megan Lewis

Published by Digital Hammurabi Press.

Jacket art: statue fragment bearing incised cuneiform

inscription of Amar-Sin, and statue of Gudea of Lagaš.
Courtesy of The Met Museum, New York, NY. Images are in
the Public Domain.
Author photo by Debbie Elisa Photography,
debbieelisaphotography.com

All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying and recording, or by an information
storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly
permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing to Digital
Hammurabi Press, [email protected].

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019920293

ISBN: 978-1-7343-5860-5
Contents
PREFACE - Why a Sumerian Grammar? ..................................................... vii
Thanks and Acknowledgements ............................................................... xiii
Introduction ................................................................................................. 1
Chapter One Cuneiform Signs and Sounds .................................................. 7
Cuneiform Signs and Sounds .............................................................7
What’s with the Subscripted Numbers? ......................................... 11
How Do Cuneiform Signs Work? ..................................................... 12
Single Words..................................................................................... 12
Syllables ............................................................................................ 14
Determinatives ................................................................................. 15
Sumerian Nouns .............................................................................. 18
Plurals ............................................................................................... 19
Adjectives.......................................................................................... 21
Vocabulary ........................................................................................ 23
Cuneiform Signs ............................................................................... 24
Exercises ........................................................................................... 27
Chapter Two Introduction to Verbs and the Genitive ............................... 30
Introduction to Sumerian Verbs ...................................................... 31
Verbs and the Verbal “Chain”.......................................................... 33
Participles ......................................................................................... 36
The Genitive (“of”) ............................................................................ 37
Tips on Translating that Pesky /-a/................................................. 40
Vocabulary ........................................................................................ 42
Cuneiform Signs ............................................................................... 43
Exercises ........................................................................................... 45
Chapter Three Case Endings ...................................................................... 48
/-ra/ “to, for” (Dative) ...................................................................... 51
 /-e/ “to, up to, near, at” (Locative-Terminative) ............................ 51
/-ta/ “from” (Ablative) ...................................................................... 52
/-še3/ “to, toward” (Terminative) ..................................................... 52
/-da/ “with” (Comitative) .................................................................. 52
/-a/ “in, into” (Locative) ................................................................... 52
/-gin7/ “like, as” (Equative) .............................................................. 53
Ergative ............................................................................................. 53
Copula ............................................................................................... 54
Vocabulary......................................................................................... 56
Cuneiform Signs ............................................................................... 57
Exercises ........................................................................................... 60
Chapter Four The Verbal “Chain” Part One: Case Elements .................... 62
Forms of the Verbal Case Elements ................................................ 64
Vocabulary......................................................................................... 68
Cuneiform Signs ............................................................................... 69
Exercises ........................................................................................... 71
Chapter Five Verbal Inflection ................................................................... 73
What is “Inflection”? ......................................................................... 73
Tense in Sumerian............................................................................ 74
Marû Form #1: Add an /-e/ ............................................................. 76
Marû Form #2: Double the Verbal Base ......................................... 77
Marû Form #3: Change the Verbal Base ........................................ 78
Ḫamtu Reduplication... Really? ....................................................... 79
Vocabulary......................................................................................... 81
Cuneiform Signs ............................................................................... 82
Exercises ........................................................................................... 84
Chapter Six Possession, Independent Pronouns, and Intransitive Verbs .. 86
Possession in Sumerian ................................................................... 86
Independent Pronouns..................................................................... 89
 Forming Intransitive Verbs............................................................... 90
Vocabulary ........................................................................................ 92
Cuneiform Signs ............................................................................... 93
Exercises ........................................................................................... 95
Chapter Seven Transitive Verbs: Ḫamtu.................................................... 98
/-ø-/ 1st Singular............................................................................ 100
/-e-/ 2nd Singular .......................................................................... 100
/-n-/ 3rd Singular Animate ............................................................ 100
/-b-/ 3rd Singular Inanimate .......................................................... 101
/-ø-VB-enden/ 1st Plural ................................................................. 101
/-e-VB-enzen/ 2nd Plural ................................................................ 102
/-n-VB-eš/ 3rd Plural ....................................................................... 102
Vocabulary ...................................................................................... 103
Cuneiform Signs ............................................................................. 104
Exercises ......................................................................................... 106
Chapter Eight Transitive Verbs: Marû ..................................................... 108
Direct Objects in the Verbal Chain ................................................ 109
Vocabulary ...................................................................................... 111
Cuneiform Signs ............................................................................. 112
Exercises ......................................................................................... 114
Chapter Nine Remaining Verbal Prefixes ................................................. 116
Conjugation Prefixes ...................................................................... 117
Modal Prefixes ................................................................................ 119
Vocabulary ...................................................................................... 121
Cuneiform Signs ............................................................................. 123
Exercises ......................................................................................... 125
Chapter Ten Compound and Auxiliary Verbs ........................................... 127
Compound Verbs ............................................................................ 127
Auxiliary Verbs ................................................................................ 130
 Vocabulary...................................................................................... 132
Cuneiform Signs ............................................................................ 133
Exercises ........................................................................................ 135
Chapter Eleven Imperatives and Several Non-Finite Forms .................... 137
Imperatives .................................................................................... 137
Non-Finite Forms ........................................................................... 138
Subordinate Constructions ........................................................... 140
Vocabulary...................................................................................... 142
Cuneiform Signs ............................................................................ 143
Exercises ........................................................................................ 145
Conclusion ............................................................................................... 147
Appendix A Additional Exercises ............................................................. 151
Royal Inscriptions .......................................................................... 151
Year Names.................................................................................... 157
Translations from Cuneiform ........................................................ 157
Appendix B Answer Key ........................................................................... 165
Lesson One .................................................................................... 165
Lesson Two .................................................................................... 169
Lesson Three ................................................................................. 174
Lesson Four ................................................................................... 177
Lesson Five .................................................................................... 179
Lesson Six ...................................................................................... 183
Lesson Seven ................................................................................. 187
Lesson Eight................................................................................... 190
Lesson Nine ................................................................................... 192
Lesson Ten ..................................................................................... 196
Lesson Eleven ................................................................................ 198
Royal Inscriptions .......................................................................... 200
Year Names.................................................................................... 210
 Translations from Cuneiform ......................................................... 211
Appendix C Glossary of Sumerian Words ................................................ 215
Appendix D Glossary of Proper Nouns ..................................................... 224
Appendix E Glossary of Common Irregular Verbs .................................... 228
Appendix F Cuneiform Sign List ............................................................... 230
Appendix G Glossary of Grammatical Terms ........................................... 243
Appendix H Index to Cuneiform Sources ................................................. 251
Bibliography ............................................................................................. 252
PREFACE -
Why a Sumerian Grammar?

When we founded our YouTube channel, Digital Hammurabi

in 2018, we wanted to make Ancient Mesopotamia come alive
to people of all walks of life. As Assyriologists (people who
study the languages and culture of ancient Iraq), much of our
training is in two very important languages from the Ancient
Near East: Akkadian and Sumerian. As Josh specialized in
Sumerian in his PhD program, we thought that it would be a
good idea to make a series of videos teaching people to learn
to read the Sumerian language. Of course, we assumed that
there would be little interest in the topic; I mean, who would
want to learn to read Sumerian, other than a small handful
of people that like living in the basement of a library? Boy,
were we ever wrong!

From the moment that we published the Learn to Read

Ancient Sumerian video course on YouTube, it has
consistently been the most viewed series on the Digital
Hammurabi channel. Every week someone new asks for a
Sumerian grammar that they can use in conjunction with the
video series. There are many excellent and scholarly
Sumerian grammars that brilliant Assyriologists have
Preface

written, including books by Attinger, Thomsen, Edzard,

Jagersma, Zólyomi, Foxvog, and Hayes; 1 however, there is no
good introductory grammar to recommend for absolute
beginners, particularly those who are working on their own.
To date, the brilliant scholars who have written monumental
Sumerian grammars have written them for people that
already know Sumerian. These are the reference grammars
that you use when you are translating through Gilgamesh,
Enkidu, and the Netherworld or Inanna’s Descent to the
Netherworld, and you come across an unfamiliar Sumerian
grammatical form. You already know the Sumerian
language, and you can translate through these difficult
compositions; but there are always things that are
challenging to understand. In these moments, you turn to a
reference grammar like some of the ones cited above in order
to figure out the answer to that unclear grammatical form.

Unfortunately, if you don’t already know Sumerian, and you

want to pick up a book, read through it, and learn the
language on your own, you are out of luck. That is, until now.
The goal of this book is to teach you to learn to read
Sumerian on your own (or in a classroom), even if you have
had no experience or training in the language. This

1 Full references to these publications can be found in the Bibliography.

viii
 Why a Sumerian Grammar?

Sumerian grammar is truly intended for the lay person.

Although this is a book about Sumerian linguistics, there is
only as much complex and “scholarly” language as necessary.
When uncommon terms are used, like “comitative” or
“agent”, we’ve made every effort to explain exactly what that
word means as it appears. There is also a glossary of
grammatical terms at the end of the book so you can look up
definitions if you need to! So, if you have always wanted to
learn to read Sumerian, but you don’t have the time or the
money to attend a university, then this is the book for you!

The chapters are organized in such a way that you will learn
the basics of the language in small, manageable pieces. This
book can also be used in conjunction with our Learn to Read
Ancient Sumerian video series on YouTube, allowing you, the
student, to hear the lessons explained in video format. 2 Once
book one is mastered, the student can move on to book two,
which provides intermediate-level details on the Sumerian
language. Rather than explaining every detail of a particular
topic (the verb, for example), this book (the first in a three-
part series on learning to read Sumerian) provides the basic
information necessary to understanding the verb. More
detailed information will be given in book two, and finally, in

2 This book contains expanded and updated exercises, so they will not

match the videos exactly. The bulk of the lessons are, however, the same.
ix
Preface

book three of the series, 3 we will look at the advanced aspects

of the language. However, the majority of the basic concepts
necessary to read and understand the Sumerian language
will be presented in book one.

Before we begin our grand adventure into learning to read

Sumerian, a caveat should be stated. To the brilliant
Assyriologist reading this grammar - this book is in no way
intended to cover every detail of Sumerian linguistics. It is
not intended to be a reference grammar, and should not be
treated as such. Its purpose is to provide the interested
student a way to access Sumerian without the direct
instruction of a professor of the language. It is our hope that,
with a resource like this, we will see a new wave of excited
students, beating down the doors of our institutions, wanting
to become experts in the field of Assyriology.

With all of this in mind, it’s time to begin your journey and
learn to read the world’s first written language, Sumerian…
so come along for the ride!

3 Books two and three forthcoming.